Thais' lack of ability at foreign languages holding back tourism, says top minister

[overherebc]

4 minutes ago, StayinThailand2much said:

True! I noticed, that some people from Phuket and Songkhla, two provinces in Thailand's South have trouble understanding each other, and these two provinces are not that far apart.

Google youtube  voice activated lifts in Scotland.

[Grusa]

Not just tourism, or possibly even tourism, is held back by lack of English, and it's government policy!

 

i remember in Abhisits' time as PM, a bill being presented to parliament to make English the second official language of the country. It was rejected out of hand.

 

I can't think why...?

[keeniau96]

We have two little girls ( 8 & 6 yrs old), both nieces of my wife, living in our house. Oldest since she was 5 months old. Wife is oldest sister and took little gril from bro because he was deemed a totally irresponsible drunk pussyhound. Both girls are thriving, learning English and Chinese (private tutors), and I am only allowed to speak to them in English. Oldest is top girl in her school as well as swimming champ. It can be done, but have to be motivated.

[collingwood]

Also it doesn't help if you have trouble with your native language, and have a retention span of a mars bar.....just saying  

[leither69]

Couple of my thai friends have told me,  thais have no interest or see the benefit from speaking english!! Say no more!

[NanLaew]

15 hours ago, Sir Dude said:

Ditch the patronage system, enforce the law, allow critical and free thinking, stop the coups and and hose down the government stables with bleach so as to create a fairer society...and you might have some chance of that and a myriad of other things minister (yeah, right). I could go on, but it would be patronizing to TV members to do so.

And let Thaksin and Yingluck back with all the privileges afforded them due to their Thai nationality fully and unquestionably restored.

 

...and then I woke up too.

[janhkt]

What do you expect when you're not exposed to foreign languages in the media? By the age of 10, I was able to understand and make myself understandable in 3 secondary languages on a low level just from watching TV.

 

Exposure is extremely important. Show movies with the original sound and add Thai subtitles.

[madmitch]

I really can't see how the lack of English language skills affects the cruise ship market. It probably has more to do with the fact that Phuket's main cruise ship terminal, Ao Makham, is in the middle of nowhere and, as others have pointed out, that demands involvement from Phuket's notorious transport system.

 

I don't own a cruise line, unfortunately, but if I did, Phuket would probably be off the itinerary for the above reasons. People are ashore for a few hours; they hardly have time to interact with locals in any language.

[RotMahKid]

2 hours ago, hansnl said:

That is not the issue here.

The issue is language deficiencies in Thailand and the wish to attract more tourists into Thailand.

If you want more tourists from abroad, and your own language is not widely used in the world, then start learning the most widely used language in international traffic and business.

And that is English.

 

No it's Mandarin - 1026 million speakers  and English 765 million.

[tonray]

4 minutes ago, RotMahKid said:

No it's Mandarin - 1026 million speakers  and English 765 million.

His point was in 'international traffic and business" ...and that would be English

[binjalin]

The problem is Thais have been encouraged for decades that they don't need to learn other languages because there's is the best in the first place.

[Rhys]

16 minutes ago, madmitch said:

I really can't see how the lack of English language skills affects the cruise ship market. It probably has more to do with the fact that Phuket's main cruise ship terminal, Ao Makham, is in the middle of nowhere and, as others have pointed out, that demands involvement from Phuket's notorious transport system.

 

I don't own a cruise line, unfortunately, but if I did, Phuket would probably be off the itinerary for the above reasons. People are ashore for a few hours; they hardly have time to interact with locals in any language.

 

 

Also it must be the pesky Taxi drivers.... taking such great and friendly care of those tourists as well.

[Tom89]

I'm in Japan and I think Thais speak far and away better English than the Japanese. I've been in some out of the way places in Thailand and found pharmacists that speak decent English. Try finding an English speaking pharmacist in Tokyo, let alone the country side.

[Charlie1]

Teach them English, not American.

[NanLaew]

4 minutes ago, madmitch said:

I really can't see how the lack of English language skills affects the cruise ship market. It probably has more to do with the fact that Phuket's main cruise ship terminal, Ao Makham, is in the middle of nowhere and, as others have pointed out, that demands involvement from Phuket's notorious transport system.

 

I don't own a cruise line, unfortunately, but if I did, Phuket would probably be off the itinerary for the above reasons. People are ashore for a few hours; they hardly have time to interact with locals in any language.

Agreed. Phuket has priced itself out of the Andaman side cruise market which is Langkawi's gain. If anyone is primarily to blame, it is those that enable the "notorious transport system" and not the perpetrators as such.

 

But getting back to the prevailing dire foreign language skills, I was reading an article penned by a foreigner who has been working a long time in the upper echelons of Thai education and at a fairly recent seminar, the requirements of the TOEFL ITP certification was being discussed. Apparently there's a accumulated benchmark examination score of 400(?) which is the globally accepted minimum. One of the Thai language professors attending opined that the pass grade for Thai teachers should be 200 because they find English is too hard. One of their most senior foreign language practitioners basically suggesting they need a free pass.

 

Initially one would think that it is just another facet of what some perceive as Thai laziness but the author of the article commented that there is a general willingness to try and learn and attain these global standards but the Thai teacher training system is insufficiently resourced and doesn't provide anything close to the help and tools they need to get anywhere near the required standards. The few competent Thai national TOEFL'ers have either benefited from some direct immersion in the foreign language overseas or have had the time and money to research, pursue and acquire these extra tools that are badly needed but generally unavailable through the government bodies that set the rules. The laziness is primarily in the government offices and not in the teachers.

[HOOD Robin]

16 hours ago, Happy Grumpy said:

Nonsense.

 

Thais don't need foreign languages because Thailand is the best country in the World, and Thais are the best people in the World. Tourist numbers are the best in the World and there's 0% unemployment. 

 

 

 

You forgot something IMPORTANT !

 

Thai is gonna be the #1 language in the World !!!        

[brewsterbudgen]

2 hours ago, hansnl said:

That is not the issue here.

The issue is language deficiencies in Thailand and the wish to attract more tourists into Thailand.

If you want more tourists from abroad, and your own language is not widely used in the world, then start learning the most widely used language in international traffic and business.

And that is English.

 

Might be better for them to be learning Chinese/Mandarin or Russian!  In any case, the topic is about learning foreign languages, not just learning English.

[Mainhattencitizen]

16 hours ago, Sir Dude said:

All because Thailand is basically an inward looking country with a local superiority complex and an educational system that is in dire need of reforming due to consistently lagging behind it's local piers. However, dream on for change as too many vested interests and the Chinese-Thai elite will have none of it due to them needing an unquestioning slave class to provide cheap labour. Ironically, although people rightly complain about the education system here, it actually does a very good job regarding what it was really designed to do...which is controversial and archaic, working as intended. 

 

Ditch the patronage system, enforce the law, allow critical and free thinking, stop the coups and and hose down the government stables with bleach so as to create a fairer society...and you might have some chance of that and a myriad of other things minister (yeah, right). I could go on, but it would be patronizing to TV members to do so.

You hit the nail right on the head. The elite will not allow better education

[StayinThailand2much]

51 minutes ago, collingwood said:

Also it doesn't help if you have trouble with your native language, and have a retention span of a mars bar.....just saying  

I've taught English and other European languages. Even the most eager Thai students had the retention span you describe. 

[burgdawg]

...I just had another stooopid conversation with a Tai Uni student at Mahasarakam. She began by timidly asking "...may I ask you a question?"

"SURE..."

"What is Canada like?"

(me) "...depends. There are two cities, Toronto and Vancouver, called Hongcouver, due to the huge influx of Chinese. Both are very expensive. What city in Canada do you wish to travel to?"

ไม่รู้นะ ( I don't know)

(me) "...what will you be doing in Canada?"

ไม่รู้นะ

 

I then related that "Canada is quite beautiful in their western section of the Rocky Mountains, west of Calgary. Places like Banff, Jasper and Mt. Revelstoke are gorgeous. Again, why are you interested in Canada?"

ไม่รู้นะ

 

I scolded this hottie for being unprepared. Sorry lads, if it wasn't for their trim bodies and fine features---none of us would be in Thailand.

This 'box of rocks' was in disbelief when I related "...there is no somtam in USA or Canada, unless you make it yourself."

 

She laughed herself silly.

Thailand is a Nation of Children, get used to it.

[Retiredandhappyhere]

8 hours ago, steven100 said:

So because I prefer a government that is serious about economic development and not fraudulent rice schemes then you feel a need to criticize me.

My opinion is not the same as yours   !!!!!!!!!!!!!     so what  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so leave Thailand if you don't like it's rules .   !!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

and stop whinging ..... 

OMG, Steven, how many times are you going to use that old chestnut?  It seems more and more that you totally agree with the PM that the rest of us are not only denied the opportunity to question them or even express a reasonable opinion on here without you suggesting that we "go home".  In a democracy, if your preferred party does not win the election, would you suggest that the people who voted for the opposition should leave the country if they do not like it? 

In practice, they stay and hope that things will change and become better. 

 

You should just allow people on here to have their say, even when you do not agree with them, without feeling the need to tell them to "go home".  You may not be aware, but it is something called "free speech", admittedly not too common over here.

 

[janpharma]

"Thailand 4.0" or rather " 0.4" ?

[MartinKal]

The targeted sector is the cruise market. English is the lingua franca and more than this it is a legal requirement for those responsible for compliance.

At sea, generally the hospitality work iscarried out by native English speakers.

On shore marketing is in the hands of locals. You would think the owners of these businesses would invest in their staff and EFL would be an obvious ongoing training. Say, three hours a week, empmoyee-student reimbursed quarterly for the courses he's signed up for.

Do businesses make a pitch at their local schools and colleges with the promise of interesting if not well-paid positions in Thailand's second (?) most important sector of the economy?

[newnative]

They need to concentrate on English, the universal language.   They need to be raising English standards for teachers, not lowering them.  They need to add back the hour of schooling that they eliminated and devote it to teaching English--even if they just show a tv program in English with subtitles every day for the last hour of classes.

[chaingman]

15 hours ago, rkidlad said:

Yeap. My misus won’t ask for assistance in shops because she gets so frustrated with staff speaking drivel or being incoherrant. 

 

I remember my ex gf would speak to her fellow Thais. They’d speak for a while so I’d be curious to know what two complete strangers could have to talk about. She’d often say they weren’t making any sense. That wasn't the most confusing part. The most confusing part is how two strangers could have such a lengthy conversation and walk away from it with zero curiousity as to what it was all about. 

 

That’s the problem in a culture where you’re not supposed to ask questions. It seriously stunts development when not understanding something is the norm. You don’t even care to understand anymore. 

That made me laugh out loud... like taking a phone call for 10 mins then asking who were you talking to, ‘ Oh, wrong number’..

[thailand49]

17 hours ago, Happy Grumpy said:

Nonsense.

 

Thais don't need foreign languages because Thailand is the best country in the World, and Thais are the best people in the World. Tourist numbers are the best in the World and there's 0% unemployment. 

 

 

Watch it Grumpy... someone is going to come on line and say you are bashing Thais! 

[farcanell]

Urum.... what?

 

rubbish!

 

they cited Phuket particularly in this story, and IMO, the locals have a damn good grasp on English, at least.

 

i often get asked to stop mangling thai and just speak English., to such an extent that after ten years, my thai is still pathetic

 

on the occassion that I come across a non English speaking Thai, I go into baboon mode with grunting and pointing, and that usually gets the message across ( even if it causes a few laughs, but that’s cool too)

 

obviously, the more rural you get, the less English is known... not much use for it on the farm, bub. (this observation also applies the further down the food chain you go, but that’s to be expected)

 

garanteed.... more Thais in this town, understand English, than aussies in Perth, understand thai.

 

ergo.... other factors need including in tourism surveys... but we all know about their reliability (tourism thailand)

 

 

[metisdead]

Off topic posts and replies have been removed. 

[natway09]

And they still keep ducking the real issues don't they.?

Tourists can handle the language barrier, in fact it is part of the charm of holidaying here.

What they cannot handle are the crazy drivers, rip offs by unsrupulous  operators,  corrupt officials, dirty sea water (Jomtiem, Pattaya & Hua Hin

water quality makes it dangerous to swim in now)  along with the brown bag Thai syndrome making the end prices for tourists too high.

Every dog has his day, the Tourism Minister is getting a big pat on the back for the numbers achieved but they are literally destroying their own beautiful country with the sheer numbers of tourists.

Until they invest in what I call unseen infrastructure the country & oceans will just become a big waste site.

Myanmar massive beach development on pristine beaches just around the corner in the Andaman sea

[brewsterbudgen]

1 hour ago, newnative said:

They need to concentrate on English, the universal language.   They need to be raising English standards for teachers, not lowering them.  They need to add back the hour of schooling that they eliminated and devote it to teaching English--even if they just show a tv program in English with subtitles every day for the last hour of classes.

English is certainly the main lingua franca but the last attempt at having a universal language was Esperanto, which died a death!